2025 Christmas Reading Challenge

Christmas will be here before you know it, and too often, the season comes and goes so quickly that we wish we had spent more time enjoying it in the moment. As with everything, we find that books are the answer!

The more Christmas books we read, the more we’re in the mood to enjoy holiday activities outside of reading.

Christmas printable challenge tracker image over open book and christmas decor

With that in mind, we recommend joining our flexible 2025 Christmas Reading Challenge to boost your holiday spirits!

Christmas Challenge Prompts

For each prompt, we’ve provided buttons linking to books that meet the prompt so you can spend more time reading and less time searching for books.

Photo of Christmas lights above the streets of Madrid. In the bottom right corner are three book covers of Christmas books set throughout Europe

Prompt #1: Armchair Travel

We’ve set up a new page for you to find Christmas books by their setting, from North Carolina and Colorado to Canada and Europe! We also note each book’s setting on our other Christmas book lists, giving you even more locations to choose from!

Christmas Books by Setting

Toy vintage red truck in snowy forest of bottle brush trees

Prompt #2:
Historical or Romantic

Are you in the mood to read about another time period OR cozy up with a love story? Pick either genre for this prompt!

Historical Fiction for Christmas

Christmas Romance*

*This is our newest Christmas romance list, but we have more for you to choose from!

White presents with red ribbons on a red background with magical snow blowing through and three Christmas book covers in the top right corner

Prompt #3:
Magical or Mysterious

From A Christmas Carol to Santa Claus, this season marked our first introduction to magical realism. For this prompt, pick a magical realism OR mystery read.

Magical Realism for Christmas

Christmas Mysteries

Get the Free Printable Tracker

Now that you know the prompts, sign up in the box below to get your Christmas Reading Challenge coloring page tracker!

If you aren’t a member of our Facebook group yet, we recommend joining so you’ll be able to share what books you’re reading for the challenge each Sunday in our What Are You Reading thread.

Christmas Challenge FAQs

Q: When does the challenge start?
A: Anytime! Join now and read at your own pace.

Q: What do I get when I sign up?
A: A free printable coloring sheet, along with joining nearly 40,000 subscribers who enjoy our bookish newsletter every Friday morning!

Q: Is the challenge free?
A: Yes. The printable coloring sheet, online book lists, and weekly emails are totally free!

We do have an optional membership program that helps support Book Girls’ Guide and provides extra perks to members, but it’s totally optional, and you can complete this challenge at no cost.

Q: Do audiobooks and ebooks count?
A: Absolutely—any format you enjoy counts.

Q: How many books do I need to read?
A: Choose one book per prompt (for a total of 3 books) or as many as you like—this is a no-stress challenge.

Q: What do I do when I finish reading?
A: At the end of the season, members of our Read with the Book Girls Facebook group will have an opportunity to share what they read for each prompt in the Christmas Reading Challenge. Be sure to join the group now so you can participate!

If you enjoy sharing your reading online, we also have ready-made templates for this challenge below!

Social Sharing & Canva Templates

Social sharing graphic with spots to drop a book cover for each prompt

You can choose from square or portrait (sized for stories), and both sizes are available as a Canva Template or as an image file that you can use in any editing program!

SQUARE: Canva Template | Download JPG

9:16 FOR STORIES: Canva Template | Download JPG

2025 Christmas Reading Challenge